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Case file s1038 · Business dynasties · 1999
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1999
Nicola Trussardi: (Bergamo, 17 giugno 1942 – Milano, 13 aprile 1999)
Nicola Trussardi. Tincutza 27. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.
Died
1999 (Nicola Trussardi)
Place
Milan, Italy
Field
leather goods and fashion (Trussardi) · Visual art and architecture on the timeline
Legal tradition
Italian company law; Italian negotiated crisis settlement (composizione negoziata) · Civil law
Historical event
Western sanctions on Russia after February 2022 cut a key market for Italian fashion
Business dynastiesPostwarEuropeItaly
Trussardi Alla Scala HQ: Trussardi Alla Scala HQ
Trussardi Alla Scala HQ. Trussardi. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.

Nicola Trussardi and his son Francesco died in car crashes four years apart, and the family lost the Trussardi company

Dante Trussardi founded a glove workshop in 1911. Nicola Trussardi expanded it into fashion, launched the first clothing collection in 1983 and designed Italy's uniforms for the 1988 Seoul Olympics. In 1999 he died at 56 after a road accident on the edge of Milan. His son Francesco took control. On 26 January 2003 Francesco died in a car crash, aged 29. His sister Beatrice became chief executive, then handed the role to their mother, Maria Luisa Gavazzeni. The youngest son, Tomaso, said he lost his father at 15 and his brother at 18. Tomaso became chief executive in 2015. In 2016 Beatrice left the company and transferred 25 percent of the family holding, Finos, to him. Losses reached €30 million in 2017. In 2019 the restructuring fund QuattroR took about 60 percent of Trussardi through a new company owned 70 percent by the fund and 30 percent by Tomaso. In 2021 he was replaced as chairman. By 2023 debts stood at €51.5 million and the company entered a negotiated crisis procedure. On 12 March 2024 the Miroglio group completed its purchase of Trussardi from QuattroR, with 15 shops in Italy and the historical archive.

What the law took from it

Two deaths in one generation can leave a family company to heirs who were not prepared to run it.

Sources
  1. Il PostPress
  2. apparelnews.netPress
  3. ilfattoquotidiano.itPress
  4. ansa.itPress

Cite as: celebrity.estate, “Nicola Trussardi and his son Francesco died in car crashes four years apart, and the family lost the Trussardi company,” story s1038, https://www.celebrity.estate/nicola-trussardi-1999, updated 30 October 2026.

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Where this case sits

Business dynastiesPostwarEuropeCivil lawItaly